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I Don’t W ant To Do a Budget AMS

In summary, I needed an easy-to-follow money system that would allow
me to actually budget for my personal financial growth. I called my new sys-

tem: My “I Don’t Want to Do a Budget!” Automatic Money System.

Automatic Money System

When I introduce my automatic money system (AMS) to the students who
attend my seminars, I start by asking them how they feel about budgets. After
the groans and complaints subside, I tell them I agree with them; in fact, when

it comes to budgets, I’m the “anti-financial planner.” I say, “Budgets suck!”
Then I give them permission to tell everyone they know that a fi nancial
authority said so, and tell them to feel free to list all the reasons why that’s true.

Then they all stand up and, fists punching the air, yell out a few resound-
ing choruses of “Budgets suck!” Silly as it sounds, this fun exercise is useful: it
helps purge the old psychological notions of what a budget means to your
lifestyle. It helps clear out the negative expectations and experiences of how
much work budgets are and how complicated a traditional budget can be to
implement and follow.
Right now, you can get rid of those same negative thoughts, too. On the
count of three, stand up, pump your fist in the air, and let out a loud cheer:

“Budgets Suck!”
One . . . Two . . . Three . . . budgets suck! Right! Feel better? Good.
Now let’s get ready to adopt a new mindset. My system is all about fun
and freedom because it follows one simple principle: Put as much emphasis
on the plus side of the equation (income, savings, and investing), as you do on
the negative (or expense) side of the equation (which is the only side tradi-
tional budgets emphasize, by the way). By achieving that balance, you “budget”
for your personal fi nancial growth and build the wealth that you truly desire
to possess. This is your system, so have fun with it. There’s no need to sacri-
fice all the things you want; in fact, this system works because you leave your-

self some room for fun.
There are five simple, powerful steps that lead you to your fi nancial

freedom so you can build wealth. Let’s look at and briefly discuss each of

them in turn.

1. Implement an automatic investment plan . As described in Chapters 7

and 8 , you must set up an automatic investment plan (AIP) and con-
tribute at least 10 percent of your gross income every month to

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